When driving to Italy, (Lake Maggiore area), from Calais, I almost always drive up towards Dunkirk and then head east towards Luxembourg. The reasons for doing so are simple:
I do not need to pay to travel on French motorways - it's free in Belgium, Luxembourg and the bits of France I go through - saving about €35 each way.
It doesn't add more than about 20 minutes to the travel time - the distance is almost exactly the same as going on the highway direct towards Strasbourg, but traffic can be slow around Lille, but this can be offset by not having to stop to get and pay for tickets on the highway.
It allows you to fill up with fuel in Luxembourg, which is very very cheap. Fill up at the highway service station closest to the border with Belgium, as there are always lines at the filling station closest to the French border.
This avoids what is one of the most boring bits of motorway in France - why else would they put up 'interesting totems etc' beside the highway to provide something to look at.
Here is a member response:
My husband Ron has just returned from our home in Italy and driving there six weeks ago and returning, he travelled on Norfolk Ferries Dunkirk/Dover. He said it was a lovely easy ferry route, not overly full and easy both ends getting on and off with the car and our dog, the staff being very friendly. Cheaper on the Dover/Calais route. I will make a note of the Luxembourg leg of the journey. He went through Belgium, past Brussels to Liege on one of the best roads he has every seen (we used to live near Liege about 35 years ago - so memory lane for him) and then into Germany (via Holland I think) and Austria, then Italy. Not such a boring journey as last year when we did France from Mont Blanc to Paris. Great roads but so boring!